Help Your Kids: How To Deal With Chronic Childhood Illnesses

There’s not much that’s more stressful for parents than when their kids are sick. It’s said that no parent is happier than their least happy child – and when you’re watching one of your kids cough from asthma or wince from pain from another condition, it’s impossible to not worry about them. But there are ways that you can tackle chronic childhood illnesses to make them easier on your whole family – read on to find out how…

Go To Therapy

No matter what situation your family is in, therapy could probably benefit you. One of the best parts of therapy is how it teaches you to communicate in a more fruitful and healthy way. If there’s chronic illness within your family, chances are that’s taking up most of your time and energy, both mental and physical. Other members of your family might feel as though they have to keep their problems to themselves, which might lead to some problems in the long term. Therapy will help to air these issues out and to promote good relationships within your family.

Seek Out Treatments

There’s no point in spending all your time researching new treatments if you’ve already tried almost everything with your doctor. Chances are, your physician knows everything about the illness you’re dealing with, and unless you’ve had medical training, you might not understand the subtleties of what you’re reading about. But it’s still important to make sure your child gets the best possible medical care. Make sure you’re informed, that you communicate clearly, and that you push for the best treatment possible. Some chronic illnesses like hip problems in children are treatable, and you should make sure it happens.

Be Honest With Friends And Family

The only thing worse than tying yourself up in knots with internet research is when a well-meaning friend or family member thinks they can solve all your problems after going on Google for five minutes. It’s hard to contain your frustration when that happens, but try to count to ten, keep your voice even, and be firm when you thank them for their care and support, but inform them that you and the doctors have it under control. To maintain your good relationships with your loved ones, make sure you keep it as calm as you can, even when they’re offering useless advice that makes it seem as if you haven’t done your research. You know the truth and that’s all that matters.

Treat Your Kids Equally

Even if one of your kids is suffering from a chronic illness and your other children are luckier with their health, you should try to treat them equally where you can. It would be very easy to treat your ill kid very gently but that might lead to resentment within your family. Be aware of their limitations, but give them some household chores to do like laying the table or putting their own clothes away. That means that they’ll be treated like your other kids, thus developing good relationships with their siblings, and learning how to be responsible at the same time.